Calum Hood was a beautiful boy.
He was tall and sweet and he knew how to make me laugh.
Calum hood was beautiful, but he wasn't my AP US history teacher.
My relationship with my boyfriend of four years was perfect. We fought like everyone else, but at the end of the day we needed each other. No one had ever turned my head during the course of our relationship. No one ever compared to him, he was all I wanted. That all changed when I entered my junior year.
It made me sick the way I looked at my teacher. I knew it wasn't cheating, but it twisted me up inside knowing just how much I wanted him. How could I possibly look at someone the same way I looked at Calum?
At first I tried to ignore it, I was only acknowledging the fact that Mr.Hemmings was attractive. There wasn't anything wrong with that. However, things began to escalate as my junior year carried on.
I dreamt of Mr.Hemmings. I fantasized about him. I imagined his body leaning into mine at the same time as I locked lips with Calum in the front seat of his car.
I didn't mean to imagine him like that, I knew that I shouldn't. I also knew that Mr.Hemmings was completely unattainable in every way. Besides, I was taken.
Part of me hoped that Calum thought about girls that way too, but the other part detested the idea with every bone in my body. It wasn't fair what I was doing to Calum, and I knew that. Sometimes I wished he would just break up with me so I wouldn't feel so guilty, but I hadn't known a life without him and that was terrifying.
My passionate fantasies of Mr.Hemmings were just that; fantasies.
Although I wasn't getting anywhere physically with my twenty-five year old history teacher, I grew fonder and fonder of the version I'd created of him in my head each day.
Calum was safe, he was stable and comfortable. But Mr.Hemmings was intriguing, forbidden, and quite literally illegal.
"Ms. Lazaro?"
I sat up straight and cleared my throat, my eyes meeting Mr.Hemmings'.
"Did you do the reading last night?" He asked accusingly.
"I didn't get a chance to actually" I mumbled, my eyes meeting the tile floor.
He let out a deep laugh and placed a hand on my desk, "see me after class Jasmine"
I sighed, remaining in my seat as the bell rang.
He waited for everyone to leave the classroom and shut the door behind them.
"I'll do the reading tonight I promise. I've just been busy"
He shot me a goofy half smile, "that's not actually why I asked you to stay after class. Well you may not know this but the AP history department does a field trip to Washington every year, and it isn't cheap. We aren't really making the budget right now"
I furrowed my brows in a confused manor, "and what does that have to do with me?"
"Well it has more to do with your father actually"
It suddenly began to make sense. My father was a big donor to the school, he owned a company that was one of the main sponsors for Berkeley High.
"The school is trying to get our sponsors to give a little extra this year. And since I'm head of the department-"
"It's your job to ask my dad for money?" I finished the sentence for him.
"In simple terms; yes. But the reason I'm telling you all this is because your fathers asked me to come to dinner at your house next weekend. I know that's probably uncomfortable for you so I just wanted to run it by you rather than showing up without warning."
He didn't have to talk to me, I guess that's nice of him.
"Oh" I laughed dryly, "well thanks for the warning Mr.Hemmings" I began to get up, butterflies rising in my stomach at the thought of him in my house.
I placed my hand on the door as he called out once more.
"And do the reading will you?"
I looked back at him with a sheepish smile and exited the classroom.
"What did Hemmings want with you?"
I jumped at the sound of Calums voice.
"Nothing really, he's coming over for dinner next weekend. Stuff about my dad and the school" I replied as he draped an arm around my shoulder.
He nodded in response, not giving anything much thought as we ambled through the halls.
"You wanna go to the movies tonight? There's this one with Adam Sandler out and me and the boys really wanted to go see it"
It was a nice thought, going out to the movies with my boyfriend and friends. But in truth, all the time I spent with Calum these days consisted of my guilty conscience eating away at me.
"You can bring Flora"
Maybe this would be good for me.
He looked down at me with pleading brown eyes, "Alright, but don't make me sit next to Michael ok?"
